Sen. Chuck Grassley focused on the 2016 presidential election Saturday in a speech at the Iowa Freedom Summit despite the fact that he “obviously” has no plans to enter the race himself.
In a day marked by 2016 ambitions, the Iowa Republican touted his own position as head of the Senate Judiciary Committee and urged those who did plan to run to adhere to core American values.
“Nothing less than the Constitution is at stake in this 2016 presidential election,” he said.
The Republican senator drew laughs from the crowd of conservative activists when he introduced himself as “an Iowa farmer,” a subtle jab at former Rep. Bruce Braley, Grassley’s 2014 Democratic challenger who derided the long-time congressman as “just a farmer from Iowa who never went to law school.”
His speech reflected what will be common themes during the highly-anticipated Des Moines event: pushing back on the president’s policies while turning an eye to the race ahead.
“A pen and a phone can’t replace our elected representatives,” Grassley said, taking a swipe at President Obama’s strategy for pursuing his agenda without the help of Congress.
Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, who organized the summit, opened the floor early Saturday by asking a sold-out crowd if they believed “the next president of the United States is going to be speaking from this stage today.”
Iowa’s junior senator, newly-elected Republican Joni Ernst, took the stage shortly after Grassley and thanked the crowd for sending her to Washington so she could deliver the GOP response to Obama’s State of the Union address Tuesday.
Ernst and Grassley preceded a number of White House hopefuls on the Des Moines stage, all of whom are seeking to stand out in the state that leads the nation in selecting presidential primary candidates.
But several big names steered clear of the conservative event. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, three potential 2016 contenders, will not speak at Saturday’s event.
